Minority in Parliament vote of censure against Ofori-Atta fails

Less than 183 MPs voted to oust the beleaguered Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, in response to the Minority in Parliament’s Censure resolution.

On Thursday, 136 members of the National Democratic Congress voted in favor of Mr. Ofori-dismissal, Atta’s but this number fell short of the constitutional threshold of two-thirds needed for the motion to pass.

Members of the New Patriotic Party who previously chose not to support the Minority’s motion left the chamber.

Osei Kyei-Mensah-Mensah, the Majority Leader, who organized the walkout, declared that the Majority caucus will not support the censure move because it is politically driven and without any merit.

“You (the Minority) want us to follow you on this misadventure. Mr. Speaker, like Pontius Pilate did, we will wash our hands of this”, he stated.

Despite their exit, Speaker Alban Bagbin proclaimed a secret ballot necessary to determine whether to remove a minister through a censure vote in line with Standing Order 105 and Article 104(4) of the 1992 Constitution.

Due to his appalling management of the economy, there have been several calls for Ken Ofori-Atta, the finance minister, to step down or be fired.

At a news conference, some 80 members of parliament from the ruling New Patriotic Party demanded that his cousin be fired by the president, failing which they would no longer support government initiatives.

The Speaker then forwarded the NDC MPs’ censure resolution, which called for the Finance Minister’s dismissal, to an 8-member ad hoc committee for a hearing.

On November 25, 2022, the Committee subsequently delivered its findings to Parliament.

The Minority caucus submitted a vote of censure against the Finance Minister, charging him with economic incompetence, fiscal mismanagement, conflict of interest, and gross economic mismanagement.

The Finance Minister denied charges of conflict of interest and egregious economic mismanagement brought against him by the Parliamentary Minority group.

The accusations against him, he claimed, were witch hunts and he had done nothing wrong.

If I claim to be innocent, the minority won’t believe me, and if I demand the truth and supporting evidence, they won’t be able to do so.

On Thursday, Mr. Ofori-Atta said, “I have committed no crime.

Source: Ghanatodayonline.com/Louis Gyamerah